Hard-to-find developer stalls land probe

He owns a registered business, and all his known addresses and places of work have been visited and messages left for him to turn himself in. Still, a developer embroiled in a multimillion-dollar land fraud case, involving the National Land Agency (NLA), has yet to be reached by the police.

With his failure to turn up, Andrew Marriott, the registered director of Universal Weld Limited, has essentially stalled one aspect of a major probe that could have drastic consequences for himself and any representatives found complicit at the NLA.

The Sunday Gleaner revealed the month-long investigation in July after the Supreme Court placed a stop order on works being carried out by Marriott and his team at 24 Oakridge Road in St Andrew, which the NLA at the time had two titles reflected on its system for the same parcel of land.

The Supreme Court also compelled the NLA to provide documents to substantiate how such a mix-up could have occurred.

Since then , The Gleaner understands that the NLA has turned over a deed of surrender and a transfer of tax certificate which it claims outlines a transfer of ownership from long-standing owner Jennrine Bodden to George Sibblies, who is listed on the latest title.

Marriott told The Gleaner earlier this year that he purchased the property from Sibblies, who records indicate is deceased.

The documents are woefully inconsistent and questionable, charged Tamara Riley-Dunn, the attorney representing Bodden’s children, who claimed their mother’s land was being stolen.

The deed of surrender, for example, was dated September 2021, despite the exchange between the ‘owners’ being carried out on April 10, 1982, as reflected on the transfer of tax certificate. One Michael Blake, a justice of the peace in St Catherine, purportedly witnessed the exchange and affixed his stamp to the deed of surrender.

NO CANCELLATIONS

Up to last summer, searches of NLA’s Website, however, reflected both titles on its system, and there were no cancellations noted. A payment of $3,050 was also reported as made for the transfer.

“So, according to the NLA then, there were never two titles for the same property. They claim that there was one in Bodden’s name, and that it was cancelled and replaced with Sibblies and that these documents are what they relied on to do the transfer,” Riley-Dunn charged.

“What the title’s office did, essentially, was to cancel the title that was in Jennrine Bodden’s name and issue a new one, according to the documents,” she added. “But I don’t know if they have not yet updated their electronic system or if it is that they did it to cover their tracks. But it is one of them.”

“That would be a major delay in their electronic system, or somebody at the NLA is scurrying to try to cover their tracks,” she said, convinced it was the latter.

Also questionable is that the deed of surrender had a signature of Bodden dated 2021, yet her children said she died in 2013. Sibblies is believed to have died in 2014.

Furthermore, the document was also reportedly lodged by one Franklyn Grenyon, an attorney, but last week sleuths said that, after interviews with Grenyon, they are confident he neither made such lodgement nor knew of it. Further, they said they are also confident he had no idea his credentials were involved in a slew of other questionable land acquisition matters at the NLA.

Grenyon reportedly does not conduct civil matters. He only deals with criminal matters, sources close to the case are also convinced.

The Gleaner obtained a contact for Grenyon, but that number rang repeatedly without answer. So too did Marriott’s cellphone when the newspaper contacted him.

Both men are key players in the probe which cops and NLA insiders confirmed is part of a bigger scandal. Police, however, remain confident Marriott will be found, and with that provide insight into the other cases.

“We have numbers for Marriott and we have contacted him. We have asked him to come in and so far he has refused,” a police source updated The Gleaner. “We have been to his business place, his homes, left messages, and nothing.

“But we are relentless in our efforts to find him, and we are confident a breakthrough will come very soon,” affirmed the cop, adding that other suspected players in the case have been interviewed.

He said, however, that so far there have been no arrests.

Police confirmed that they continue to pull documents from the NLA’s headquarters as part of their investigation. Their movements have reportedly stirred alarm among staff members there.

The Gleaner understands that there have also been several reassignments, but it is unclear whether these post shifts are directly related to the probes.

WORKMEN ON SITE

Earlier this year, the adult children of the late Jennrine Bodden, who had been living overseas, turned up at the long-vacant property to find workmen contracted by Universal Weld Limited destroying their mother’s former home.

Prior to a court injunction, Marriott told The Sunday Gleaner he had been preparing to build a multimillion-dollar apartment complex on the property.

He claimed he purchased the location through his attorney from Sibblies, who also resided in the Corporate Area. He declined, however, to give his attorney’s details when he spoke to the newspaper last summer.

There is one other key player, who sleuths last week declined to comment on. He had identified himself to The Sunday Gleaner as ‘Kirk’, and also as a developer himself.

Kirk had told the newspaper earlier this year that he had known Sibblies personally, as well as Marriott, with whom he had done business before. He said he and relatives once lived in the Oakridge Road area, and that he also knew at least one of Bodden’s children who lived there years ago.

He also told the newspaper that he was aware of the ongoing conflicts over the land prior to the injunction, and that Sibblies passed away in 2014, five months prior to the creation of a sales agreement that Marriott showed the newspaper earlier this year.

Police have confirmed that they have interviewed Kirk, but are keeping his statements close to their chest.

For every property title, there are what is known as the ‘original’, which remains in the NLA’s vault, and the ‘duplicate’ with which the owner is issued. For all transfers, the duplicate by the owner or kin must be presented to the authorities, except in cases where the document has been damaged or destroyed, the newspaper understands.

In such unfortunate events, parties can apply for a new title, providing documents to substantiate their particular circumstances and claims. Last week, Bodden’s adult son living overseas confirmed he had the official duplicate of his mother’s title with him.

Police sources also stayed clear of speculation regarding how any of the land fraud cases could have occurred, but NLA sources surmised last week that the original copies could have been removed from NLA’s vault, made to appear damaged and ineligible, and used to apply for a new title.

The NLA has officially declined to comment on matters that are being investigated and before the courts, and CEO Cheriese Walcott in July, attributed there being two titles for the Oakridge property to human error, staying away from claims of malfeasance under her watch.

In the meantime, Riley-Dunn said there had been no further mention court date for the matter, the injunction stands; and the family has since reclaimed the property and hired security guards.

“We are in the process now of having the register fixed because the title’s office had taken the title out of my client’s mother’s name. We are in the process of doing a reversal so that the correct title can be restored. But that will take some time,” she said.

corey.robinson@gleanerjm.com